Right angle transmission unit



Jan. 8, 1946. v .1. Y. DAHLSTRAND 2,392,313

RIGHT ANGLE TRANSMISSION UNIT Filed March 16, 1944 Joaqf yflahlfiralld Patented Jan. 8, 1946 be incident to my improvements, the invention 1 Claim.

This invention relates to power transmission de- 1 vices'and more especially to speed reducing gearing. More specifically the invention relates to gear type speed reducer adapted to be used in connection with high speed prime movers such as steam turbines, and having input and output shafts arranged at an angle to each other,

It is customary when substantially low speed reductions are required, to couple the input and output shafts of the above type units by means of bevel gears. This type of gearing operates at high efllciency at relatively low speeds but .because of their inherent characteristics they can not be satisfactorily employed at speedsin excess of 1200 to 1500 R. P. M. especially in the larger sizes of gears. Pitch line speeds below 5000 feet per minute must be' maintained to avoid excessive noise levels. This is true with both straight tooth bevel gears and those having spiral teethsuch as.

hypoid gears.

On the other hand, quiet, vibrationless operation may be obtained from straight helical or her ringbone gears at extremely high speeds, for instance as high as 40,000 R. P. M. I have found that by first reducing the velocity of the bevel gearing by means of a reducing train of helical gears," bevel gearing may be satisfactorily employed in transmitting the power of a high speed prime mover.

It is therefore one of the principal objects of this invention to provide a power transmission unit employing bevel gears for imparting torque from one shaft to another and having means for initially reducing the speed at which the bevel gears rotate to speeds commensurate with the optimum operating characteristics of such gears to thereby permit their use in connection with the transmission of power from high speed prime movers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE consists in the parts and combinations to be hereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that the several necessary elements comprising my invention may be varied in construction, proportions and arrangements, without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

In order to make my invention more clearly understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawing means for carrying the same into practical effect without limiting the improvements in their useful applications to the particular constructions which, for the purpose of explanation, have been made the subject of illustration.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 represents a transverse sectional view, parts being shown in elevation, of a speed reducing transmission unit constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a modified arrangement of gearing.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of another modified arrangement of gearing.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there isshown in Figure 1 a power transmission unit of a type adapted for the transmission of power for operating a deep well rotary pump. The particular unit shown is by way of illustration only, as the principle involved in this invention may be employed wherever bevel gearing is used in the transmission of power from a high speed source. In the particular embodiment shown, the bevel or output stag of gearing is housed in an inclosed casing I and comprises intermeshing bevel gears 2 and 3, respectively mounted on inpower transmission unit for use with high speed prime movers and employing bevel gears for operatively connecting intersecting shafts, said unit including an input stage of reduction gearing having a tooth arrangement suitable for operation at the high speeds developed by such prime'moversl tersecting shafts 4 and 5. Preferably, the bevel gears 2 and 3 are of the spiral tooth or hypoid type. The shaft 4, or the output shaft, is a hollow shaft or quill and is journaled in anti-friction roller bearings, designated generally a 6 and I, supported within the casing 1 respectively at the upper and lower end thereof. When the unit is employed under conditions where high power loads may be imposed on the output shaft as in the case of deep-well pumps, a suitable hearing such as the Kingsbury bearing conventionally shown at 8 may also be used.

Carried by the upper end of the quill 4 is a flange member 9 which has connected therewith,

Connected to the side of a casing is a second 1 casing I6 for housing the input or speed reducing stage of gearing which consists of an input high speed pinion l1, and an intermeshing low-.

speed gear 18. These gears are provided with helical teeth, preferablyin a herringbone ar-- rangemen't. This-type of gearing operates at a turbines.

, v1:; The pinion l6 and gear 18 are respectively.

mounted on parallel shafts t9 and an iwhich are journaled preferably in sleeve bearing 2| secured in the housing 16, tutes the input shaft of the unit projects 'exter nally from the housing [Band is provided means such as" a keywayf22 forcoupli-ng .the shaft to the prime mover (not shown) The shaftlll which serves to couple the input and outputstages projects 'i'n'tothe housing I 'in axial alignment with the. shaft 5 and is operatively .cor;necte d thereto by means of the coupling element 1.5.

The unit may belubricatedby meanscf .apressure lubricating system .in'whichoil is supplied under pressure from a pump 23 driven from the shaft 21), to. the operating .parts .of the .unit and thence to a sump 24 formed in the lower portion of the housing I from which it maybe returned to the pump in th usual .manner.

'To provide a frictionless seal forthe lower part of the housing I where. the shaft '12 projects therethroughl iprovidefa dam type seal com prising a1 flanged-sleeve vT25 which is secured'to the bottom wall of the housingand extends uptional speed of the-input shaft 1 9 will be reduced by means of the input gears i1 andJS to a speed commensurate to that at which the bevel gears' 2 andtfm'ay operate eificiently and at a' low noise level. r r A modified arrangement of gearing diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. v2 is similar tothat shown in Fig. l and'consists of aspeed reducing input stageof helical'gears HA and 18A and air-1 output stage of bevel gears 2A and 3A. In this instance, however, the outputstage of bevel gears constitutes an additional speed reducing stage and finds use when the: desired overall speed reduction issuch as to make the reductionin the first stage impractical. j

it is within the concept of this invention to also provide for utilizing-bevel gears in the--trans-;

mission ofpower from high input speeds where;

The shaft l9 whichconstiandconsisting of a speed reducing input stage of helical gears l'lB.and 183, an intermediate stage of bevel gears 33 and 2B, and an output stage ofspeed increasing helical gears 26 and 21. In the arrangement shown, the input and output stages are of equal ratio, to transmit power at the input speed. However, the output ratio may be obviously varied to obtain an increase in output speed over input speed if desired. In this modification the input speed is reduced through the gears MB and |8B 'toa proper operating ,speed for the bevel gears 2B and 3B and then stepped up again to the input speed through the intermeshing gears 26 and 21,

There are many operations and installations requiring -the"transmission of power through intersecting shafts where the speed ratios are such that only beveled gearing can be used. The use ofbev'el gears have heretofore been impracticable,

however, because of the operating limitations and deficiencies of .such gears and because lof the availability of only high speed power. By means of the multi-stage units constructed.inac cordance with the concept of .this invention, employing gearingin the input stage which fis suitable for high speed operations, .I .am enabled to eflicientlyemploy bevel gears in the transmission of power at high input speeds. Thusbyflrst res ducing high input speed to speed commensurate with the efficient operation of bevel gears, the field of use'of such gears is greatly broadened th art materially advanced. I

While I have .shown and described the 4335?. ferred embodiment .of ,my inve'n-tion, 1 wish Lit tobe understood that .I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction hereinset forth by way of illustration, as it is apparent that manychanges and variations may be made therein,--by those skilled in the art, without departing .from the spirit of the invention, or exceeding the'scope of the appended claim. r

,A right angle power transmission unit comprise inga housing, .a pair-of intermeshing bevel gears high output speeds are al'so requ-i-red. In"sucha situation, I employathme-stage arrangement, such'as diagrammatic-ally shcwnin'Fig. 3,;

therein, a rotatable hollow quill journaled at opposite end thereofinthe housing andadapted tobe driven by one of said bevel ,gears a -dmve shaft journaled in the housing anddisposedQa-ti V rightangles to the quill and 'adapted'to drive the other bevel gear, an input shaft journaledhousing at right angles to said quill, -counter; shaft journaled in the housing parallelwith said input shaft and in axial alignment 'with the drive shaft, speed reducing means including ahelical; pinion carried by the inputshaft and ahelicalv gear carried by the counter shaft andmeshing with said pinion, coupling means connecting the 7 

